More good news for all you future engineers: chances are good that you’ll soon be bringing in the benjamins. According to a recent survey from the National Association of Colleges and Employers, graduates of engineering programs have higher starting salaries than those of any other discipline, Business Week reports.
Here are their stats for the top 10 best-paid majors (after the jump):
When it comes to helping the global community recover from natural disasters, engineers are at a distinct advantage. Not only can they build survivor-seeking robots and provide food and clean water for those affected, but they also have the ability to analyze the aftermath of a storm or a quake and help communities be better prepared for such events. Engineering students and professionals across the country are now using their skills to help rebuild the countries of Haiti and Chile after their recent devastating earthquakes.
Looks like OK Go has jumped on the engineering bandwagon – their latest music video, “This Too Shall Pass” features the Rube Goldberg machine to end all Rube Goldberg machines.
In a recent LA Times blog post, lead singer of OK Go Damian Kulash said of the giant mechanism: “Its only purpose is to be awesome…When I was a kid, all I did was play with Legos and Transformers.”
If you thought bike lanes in the sky were cool, chances are you’ll be really psyched about the Shweeb, the world’s first human-powered monorail. A few creative New Zealanders designed a transportation system that would have commuters whizzing through the city in aerodynamic capsules. Shweeb riders can reach speeds up to 20 mph using less energy than it takes to walk!
It’s rare that the launch of a new product feels like a red carpet event, especially when that product is another source of clean energy.
But people are truly excited about the Bloom Box – a power source that is inexpensive, clean, and completely emission-free. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Colin Powell attended the product’s launch as well as top executives from Google, eBay, Wal-Mart, FedEx, and Coca-Cola.
With the Bloom Box, consumers will be able to generate their own electricity wirelessly. The Box is hoping to replace big power plants and transmission line grids the same way laptops are alternatives to desktops and cell phones to landlines.
Imagine yourself standing 13 feet away from the hoop, the eyes of all your teammates and the hushed crowd upon you as you concentrate. A free throw (also known as a foul shot), can be one of the most nerve-racking events in basketball. But, it may not have to be quite as stressful.
With all the March Madness about to ensue, we thought it would be the right time to bring you some exciting news: engineers at North Carolina State University have aced the secret of the free throw.
The latest project of Larry Silverberg and Chau Tran, two Mechanical and Aerospace engineering researchers, involved over 100,000 animated simulations of free throw shots to help them determine the optimum technique. Turns out there are four basic elements to hitting nothing but net on your foul shots:
Two companies believe that they have created the ultimate truth-revealing technology to help accurately determine who should go to jail and who should be freed.
Instead of relying on polygraph tests (see above image), which use pulse and breathing measurements to catch liars, the companies are using brain-scanning fMRI (functional magnetic-resonance imaging) scanners, which work by detecting the change of oxygen levels in response to neural activity. If a section of the brain is working hard, it will use more oxygen and glow brighter on the scan.
Two companies believe that they have created the ultimate 
